From the Bookshelf of Reading Addicts…

The Unexpected Everything

Morgan Matson

Start date: July 1, 2016

Finish date: July 30, 2016

Discussion: Newly Released BOTM

Discussion leader: Rida Sajid

Why we're reading this: New Released BOTM
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Newly Released BOTM

July New Realeased BOTM-The Unexpected Everything
By Rida , Head Moderator · 3 posts · 8 views

last updated Oct 24, 2016 03:01AM

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Calender for New-Release 2015
By Rida , Head Moderator · 2 posts · 20 views

last updated Mar 14, 2015 10:43PM

What Members Thought

Jun 23, 2016 Crisanda rated it liked it

Shelves: new-author, overhyped, disappointing, awful-protagonist, young-adult, 2016, beautiful-covers, book-boyfriend

I have mixed feelings about this book. And it's all thanks to the end.

I found the book to be quite slow from the get go. It wasn't boring, but there wasn't anything that was pulling me in to want to read more. At the start, our protagonist Andie finds her life twisting in unexpected ways. Being someone who's always in control, she finds herself spiraling. I would have been more drawn in if I'd cared more about Andie. But I didn't know her well enough at the point. When I did get to know her, I f I have mixed feelings about this book. And it's all thanks to the end.

I found the book to be quite slow from the get go. It wasn't boring, but there wasn't anything that was pulling me in to want to read more. At the start, our protagonist Andie finds her life twisting in unexpected ways. Being someone who's always in control, she finds herself spiraling. I would have been more drawn in if I'd cared more about Andie. But I didn't know her well enough at the point. When I did get to know her, I found that I couldn't really relate to her much. Yes, she faces problems. Everyone does. Bigger ones too. But she's got a lot going for her that she takes for granted. I suppose we've all been there though. As the summer wears on, the story gets placid and while it's nice, it's never exciting. It was easy for me to put this book down, and that's never a good sign. To be fair, life is never all that exciting, and sometimes that's exactly what we need. But I suppose that after all the hype that accompanied this book, I just expected something game changing. I was on such a high after reading Eversea, I was so sure I'd like this book as much. But everything about the story was a little too predictable for me.

We see more of Andie's friends as the book progresses. I found myself liking them more than I did Andie. And Clark! Who doesn't love nervous, slightly nerdy guys (view spoiler)? Tom is really cool too. I even found myself liking Andie's Dad as we moved along. And Bertie!! I've always wanted a dog and I want one even more now! It would have really helped if I had just liked Andie as much as I liked her friends. I think the bond they have was portrayed really well. The long text chains, dares to text only through emoticons, weird nicknames, diner hangouts, scavenger hunts(!!) all made me wish that I had 3 best friends instead of just 1. And while I loved these things (the scavenger hunt was one of my favourite parts of the book), they weren't nearly enough to make me love the book.

Another thing that I noticed throughout the book was that the flow was a bit choppy at times. In places, it seemed like the scenes had been cut off randomly and just placed together. They started by themselves and ended abruptly with nothing to tie them together. (view spoiler)

The best part of the book came right at the end - most of it was predictable, but the bitter-sweetness was unexpected. And that alone is what made me rate the book higher than what I'd intended to while reading. It's the only reason for my mixed feelings. Because this one sentence really hit home.

"I realized I don't know who I am if I'm not your friend."

I think the essence of the book can be summed up by Natasha Bedingfield's Unwritten. It's all about blank pages and taking chances. I love the theory of it. But I don't think the book reached its potential. And that was disappointing. ...more

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